A Teenager’s Rape: Lessons Learnt

Asha or baby as she’s fondled called by friends and family is a 16 year old girl living in a broken home. She has been separated from her biological father since she was six years old. Her mother remarried and she’s currently staying with her working mum, her step father and Uncle Joe (Step-father’s younger brother).

On one fateful day, Uncle Joe saw her while she was dancing and sweeping the house, he took undue sexual interest in her. She escaped his paws on that day and proceeded to reporting him to her mother. Instead of her mum to investigate, she brushed off her daughter’s concerns with “stop making up stories. I didn’t stand for your father’s lies and neither would I stand for yours. You are staying her out of your step-father’s kindness, so be nice to his brother (Uncle Joe)”.

Out of desperation, she tried reaching out to the father she never knew by visiting the club he frequented. She got his attention but her father unknowingly brought her back to the house she was eager to run away from. Uncle Joe sensing her vulnerability, forced his way on her, raped and robbed the 16 year old girl of her innocence.

She reported the incident to her friend (Violet) who later approached the raped girl’s dad, told him of her daughter’s predicament. The father sensing how he had disappointed his daughter went back to his divorced wife to take his daughter away from her chief tormentor. He said “I was wrong to walk out on my daughter, you don’t give up responsibility for your child”.

The scene ended with Asha’s father taking her away from her blindsided mother who inadvertently let her own daughter get defiled by her husband’s brother and the rapist being advised to report himself to the police station or risk getting arrested at home.

Morale of the story:
1. Responsibility: Never give up responsibility for a child. Some parents end up separated but they don’t know that the children bear the full brunt of that separation. You might be away from your spouse but never be away from your child’s life. Caring from afar is better than not caring at all. You have a responsibility as a parent to be a parent.

2. Investigate: If you see your child acting funny, investigate. If a lively child starts keeping to herself, ask questions. Don’t be the blindsided parent that assumes all is fine when her child is being molested. Never disregard a child’s concerns, remember: Investigate.

3. Be smart: Its only an ignorant parent that would let her teenage daughter stay in the same house with a grownup man and be daft enough to leave her in the same house with him all alone. Be smart.

4. Talk to someone: Incidences of girls being molested/raped abound but a very small percentage actually report the rapist. Not reporting a rape is letting the rapist go scot-free to rape another girl. Don’t die in silence, talk to a grownup.

NB:
Story was taken from Episodes 1 and 2 of the second season of Shuga: Love, Sex & Money.